He kept it quiet from all but those closest to him, but Seth Petruzelli probably would have retired had Ricco Rodriguez beat him at Bellator 48.

When he instead knocked out the former UFC champ, he experienced a rush of emotions not unlike those he experienced in his CBS-televised win over Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson some three years ago.

“If anyone watched when I fell on the ground (after the fight), I was laughing and crying at the same time,” he today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

Such is Petruzelli’s lot in MMA – a mix of disappointments punctuated by huge triumph. A lot of the swings have seemingly come on a whim. He hadn’t at all practiced the spinning back kick that set up his knockout, which came at the tail end of the first round this past Saturday at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn.

“It was all hands and takedown defense and wrestling,” Petruzelli (14-6) said of the MTV2-televised fight. “I thought he was just going to bum rush me and take me down. He didn’t really do too much of that.”

Rodriguez (47-12) came into the fight with high stakes, as well. He told Bellator broadcasters that he would retire with a loss, though he later recanted.

Petruzelli certainly didn’t want to be the guy who put Rodriguez out to pasture.

“He was probably the classiest guy I’ve ever, ever fought in my life,” Petruzelli said. “Afterward, he was so humble and cool. He’s not too far away from where I live, so I’d love to get together and train with him in the future.”

For now, it’s back to reality. “The Silverback” resumed classes today at the University of Central Florida, where he’s a few credits shy of a bachelor of science degree in psychology. But he’s not ditching the fight game any time soon.

“I’m going to take the diploma and hang it in my gym and show the customers that I went to college,” Petruzelli said. “That’s all it’s going to be good for.”

Petruzelli said he’s undecided on whether he’ll end up fighting bigger men or return to the light-heavyweight class, where he’s fought the bulk of his 11-year career. At heavyweight, he could fight in Bellator’s next heavyweight tournament or directly challenge current champ Cole Konrad.

“(In) all the interviews I did after the fight, I was talking about going down to light heavyweight,” he said. “But the more that I’ve thought about things, I’m 50-50 in the middle now because I’ll be a super-small heavyweight, but I like the feeling of being a lot faster and more agile.”

For now, his future is undecided.

After a night out on the town, Petruzelli returned to his hotel room Saturday to find a black belt on his bed, a gift from his longtime jiu-jitsu instructor Thiago Domingues. It wasn’t the flashy moment of his highlight-reel KO, but it was a meaningful moment in a long and sometimes-trying career.

And after this weekend, he’s determined to fight on.

“I’ve told people close to me that if this fight didn’t go my way, then I was close to retiring and being done with fighting and concentrating on the gym, my other fighters, and the real estate that I’ve been doing,” he said. “But since winning, it validates why I’ve been doing it and the fact that I’m going to keep on going with it.”